The wait is over for Italy

The PV market has ground to a halt in Italy with shipments and orders having frozen up almost entirely.

I’ve just returned from another trip to Italy’s largest PV tradeshow in Verona - a trip that I’ve made for some years now. This show is always a favorite of mine, mostly due to the buzz of optimism, cheer and glamour that seems to surround the Italians and their booming (perhaps no more) PV industry. Every single discussion throughout my two days at the show confirmed that production had slowed to a crawl, shipments were frozen and modules prices were plummeting towards €1/W (although is this actually a “price” if no one is buying them?). The only topic that anyone was interested in was the new decree and feed-in tariff, and most importantly when will it be announced?

As if timed to perfection, the answer to that question came as I made my final walk back through the packed halls to leave for the airport.

Finally, the drafts, proposals and rumours are over and the Italian market has a subsidy scheme which will (hopefully) restore investor confidence and reignite one of the world’s most important markets, though judging by the new decree’s limits, the market will be massively smaller than it could have been. I wish I had visited the show today to witness day 1 of the new Italian market.